david kristian

david kristian - rhythms for a rainy season CD
Apegenine Recordings

David Kristian's final non-soundtrack CD release features 16 intricate rhythmic and melodic constructions, and is presented in a beautiful Digipak with an insert booklet.  Rhythms for a Rainy Season could be considered a conceptual follow-up to last winter's Sweet Bits (Monochrome).

reviews

David Kristian's spacious compositions, with their depth and exquisite rhythms, are as beautiful and sophisticated as those of Susumu Yokota.  Yet they also reveal an affinity with Warped British IDM compositions and SF tech-house, while maintaining that distinctive Kristian sensitivity to sound as emotional atmosphere.  Rhythms for a Rainy Season is a truly lovely album that becomes increasingly mesmerizing with each listen.  It's a sensual, seductive baptism in clear waters under bright skies that's easily as inspiring as the best gentle IDM from the likes of Boards of Canada.
- Lucinda Catchlove (Nightlife Magazine)

The news of local producer David Kristian's "retirement" from the IDM game came as no surprise - while DK has been a staple in the Montreal experimental music scene for a decade, any self-respecting fan would know that he's too restless an artist to stick to one thing for too long. So here it is, his final IDM record. Lucky for us, with all its beautiful bittersweet melodies, warm analog sweeps, gushes and rhythmic intricacy, it's classic Kristian, recorded between 1999 and 2001 using a special "matrix sequencing setup" (described in detail in the liner notes, for those serious trainspotters). Kristian once again transcends transistors and breathes soul into circuit boards. 8.5/10
- Raf Katigbak (Montreal Mirror)

Apparently this is the last David Kristian CD that we will see, at least under his own name. As of now Kristian moves towards a career as a film soundtrack composer. The material on this album was recorded from 1999 to 2001, and it's described in detail in the booklet how these pieces were made. It takes too far to rewrite the process (and besides it's all a bit technical for me to fully understand), but let's say that Kristian uses a bank of sounds which are controlled by the use of 127 midi notes, allowing to freely play around with them. Each of the tracks is mapped and then recorded almost in real time. My main objection against Kristian's previous record 'Sweet Bits' (see Vital Weekly 458) is covered here: the tracks are shorter, develop quicker and have therefore more tension among them. The rhythm box ticks away in mid tempo, piano's and synthesizers wave along in melancholiac mood. Some of these pieces have a strong minimalist yet groove rhythm, much alike some of the best Pan Sonic material, like 'Chorithm' that, along with some of the more introspective movements here, make this is into a well-varied bunch of musics. A strong end I'd say. And hopefully some of his soundtracks will see the light of day on CD too.
- FdW (Vital Weekly)

"Consisting of archived material recorded between 1999 and 2001, Rhythms for a Rainy Season is purportedly the final collection of IDM/electronic work to be issued under David Kristian's own name. Having produced music for more than twenty years, the Montreal-based composer has decided to shift his focus to soundtrack work while also operating under the Gentle Bakemono and Malamutant guises (the experimental drone outing The Mariana Trench and Ghost Storeys, a CD/DVD collaboration with Ryosuke Aoike, are among Kristian's latest works).

The new release's evocative snapshots perpetuate the sound of last year's Sweet Bits, though on the whole the material seems slightly more animated and wide-ranging stylistically, in essence an encompassing mini-portrait of IDM-ambient styles. While dark and gritty tremors underscore "Yuletow," "Rainchelled," and "Overweigh Filter" the buzzes and crystalline tones of "Antique" suggest spacier climes. Kristian's compositions unfold measuredly, their layers gradually accreting though never claustrophobically. In general, the pace is relaxed and the mood becalmed; though throbs and swishing beats in "Norways" and the scurrying "Chorithm" exude aggressive flavour, for instance, they're anything but gabba. Spurred by all manner of bleeps, blurts, and croaks, "Mincet" and "Lorette" are textbook samplers of electronic sound design while "Collie Chargette" exudes the kind of reverberant billow much-loved by BOC aficionados. If Rhythms for a Rainy Season is Kristian's 'final' electronic release, it's a more than credible, if rather unassuming, exeunt."
- Textura

Would you have it that the I in IDM stands for introspective, the d for diverse and the m for melancholy, you might have found a label for David Kristian, but alas, that acronym is given away already. For 70 minutes and 16 tracks Kristian presents a variety of impressive electronica that mixes the bleeps and beeps of IDM with the analoge sweeps and washes of ambient into a defying mixture. The groove can be found somewhere inbetween the songs, or even between the beats or samples. A delicate and emotive ride through various places that Kristian has visited in the years past. No need to fasten you seat belt, your captain will take you up, away and down again gently and safely. Basically, it should be of no interest wether an album was recorded live or produced over a longer time, especially in electronic music, because after all it is the results that matter. Moreover, the expectation of superb genius moments in a live recording versus great and refined skills in a produced record is obviously bullshit, as there are many examples in both directions (positive and negative). Lokai for instance spend a gazillion of hours in the studio with great results, whereas Evol or Keiji Haino turn on the recorder and off they go. And Fennesz has done both with great results. (As usual and according to my review-policy I won’t mention bad examples here). And how the heck am I to compare all of them? Anyway, I came to this point because of David Kristian, who describes the process in which the tracks and sounds on this record were produced on the innersleve of the CD in quite some detail, and while reading about the amplitude envelopes and pitch bend ranges assigned to each sample and about banks of 127 samples making up a a matrix of 1524 micro synths and so on I couldn’t help but think, what do I care about all that if it doesn’t help the music? During the whole 70 minutes of “rhythms for a rainy season” I couldn’t find a single track or sequence of a track that seemed directly traceable to his style of production (of which, by the way I am unable to say if it is something special or common ground). Improvisation or composition can’t be answered right away, especially when those distinctions blur and mesh a lot anyway in this field of music. Actually, I very much prefer the simple drawing on the centre of the booklet to meditate on and get into while listening to this music. Its shades of brownish moving into yellow, with the white dots as if by accident and the simple line-drawing of a strange tree, makes up a much better analogy or mirror image to the music than the technical rant on the side before. (the cover image is a mirrored part of that painting) In a few words: it looks simple enough, though on closer inspection it certainly isn’t and the result is pleasant and intriguing in a special way that combines laid-backness with the brooding excitement of something about to happen, which though a little sombre never reaches a point where you might call it "dark". The pace is sleepy, or rather like waking up from anaesthetics while finding yourself taking a walk, for most of the time. There are slight hints at IDM here and there "a place where Kristian came from but has long since departed" especially when the speed heats up for some time. And it does so quite definitely and then reaches deeply into the realms of IDM. Other tracks span back in time and space towards movie-soundtracks of the mid Eighties or even those big walls of synthies that used to cover up the music of (huh?) Howard Jones or even (gasp!) Jean Michel Jarre. Yes, I took these two on purpose because for one, they describe some of the soundscapes derived from his midi-files and submerged into beats and bleeps and blinks perfectly, and for second, because these two musicians direly need a re-evaluation of their true worth to music history. So there, I said it. And I never even liked their music back then nor now. David Kristian’s work (which I admit, I haven’t followed closely) has covered a wide range ever since he started in about 15 years ago or longer and there is an impressive discography available at his website (and an even more impressive list of the equipment he owns, aptly called "toys"). There was IDM, ambient, field recordings and ever so on (Maybe that makes him write down what he did in a record.) which all helped to fill up the spectrum of sounds from which Kristian so eloquently draws for his invented tracks. There aren’t many people who seem to drench themselves so deeply into sound and sound production on a daily basis. Kristian might be on a completely different place today anyway, or even headed back already, but these tracks on here were recorded some years ago already. Do they still possess any kind of worth in a hectic and speedy world such as this one of experimental electronica? I sure think so, because they are still above average in comparison to what I get to here mostly. As I hear Kristian has moved on from electronic musician to soundtrack composer and sound designer" as if he hadn’t been all the time?
- Cracked Reviews

Canada’s ‘David Kristian’ is giving up the IDM for a jaunt as soundtrack producer, an obvious move no doubt for this creator of all things moody and futuristic. This his final work ‘Rhythms for a Rainy Season’ pays homage to the past and opens the door to what will soon be. Fans of Kristian’s work will clearly be bona fide analogue junkies; intent on exploring every last bleep, tweak and drone that Kristian so meticulously constructs, and this album will not disappoint. 16 tracks in all, Kristian once again uses his midi-note system (a system that I will not venture to explain) to produce down tempo pieces of deeply engaging electronica. Not quite a sunshine and lollipop listen, this is the place where machines share their darker and more intense moments. Where submerged droning basslines meld into scattered rhythms and oppressive grooves. (Alpan Nibble, Yuletow, Helium Mixer Socialite). The wayward pace will leave you slightly on edge, one minute its casual and deliberate (Folkforms), the next fast, bent and erratic (Mincet, Chorithm). Whilst the darker of moods blankets the album, warm and gentle moments emerge from the circuit board to fill in the gaps (Owl’s Head Sang to Me, Collie Chargette) and its a beautiful thing. Eloquent, captivating and beautifully menacing, ‘Rhythms for a Rainy Season’ is one great send off. I look forward to seeing the imagery that will one day marry the Kristian sound.
- In the Mix

Quelque huit mois après avoir lancé la collection Sweet Bits, David Kristian propose une nouvelle sélection IDM. On dit "nouvelle", mais elle consiste en fait en un programme composé entre 1999 et 2001. On devrait aussi écrire "dernière", car Kristian compte désormais enregistrer sous divers pseudonymes plutôt que sous son nom propre. On accueillera ainsi cette trame sonore pour saison pluvieuse comme une manière de chant du cygne. Distillant ses ambiances goutte à goutte, Rhythms... réussit à installer un climat bruineux et sombre. Le disque participe certes d'une démarche artistique louable, mais son contenu reste froid et rebutant. Tout cela manque manifestement d'énergie solaire.
- Michel Defoy (Voir)

Ik heb het vaker gezegd, maar de Canadees David Kristian is een geweldige artiest. Met zijn fenomenale elektronica maakt hij zowel duistere ambient en experimentele muziek als techno en idm. Hij is de laatste tijd zeer productief en presenteert alweer zijn derde cd van dit jaar. En er staat nog een hoop op stapel. Rhythms For A Rainy Season zou zo over onze zomer kunnen gaan, maar los hiervan bevat de tussen 1999 en 2001 opgenomen cd vooral een mengelmoes van al zijn stijlen met de nadruk op duistere elektronica. Op een basis van ruimtelijke elektronica worden softe en industriële beats gestapeld tot spannende en soms complexe bouwwerken. Telkens als de zon dreigt door te breken schuiven er dikke lagen grijze wolken voor, waardoor de atmosfeer bedrukt blijft. De hypnotiserende, zwartgallige muziek doet me nog het meest denken aan het oudere werk van Mark van Hoen/Locust en door de metalige geluiden ook aan Autechre. Toch hebben vergelijkingen geen zin al het om Kristian gaat. Zijn diversiteit en creativiteit is groot, waardoor hij op zichzelf blijft staan. Muziek die onder de koptelefoon een eigen leven gaat leiden in een niet bestaand, maar imponerend universum.
- Jan Willem Broek (subjectivisten.org)